Short-term rental loans: the bookings the lender counts decide how much you get.

Yes. Lenders such as Lima One and Easy Street finance Airbnb and VRBO homes and qualify them on nightly income rather than yours. A refinance usually runs on your last year of bookings; a purchase on a projection such as AirDNA. Expect stricter terms than a long-term rental gets: Lima One's STR program wants 700 credit and stops at 75% of value on a purchase.

They choose a source, trim it, then divide. The source is a year of actual bookings on a refinance, or a projection or long-term market rent on a purchase. The trim ran from nothing for experienced hosts at Easy Street to 25% for newer hosts in its 2023 terms, and one 2023 summary credited 75% of the 12-month average. Monthly counted income over PITIA is the DSCR.

Plan on 1.20 or better. HomeBridge's 2023 STR guidelines set 1.25 and a third-party listing shows RCN at 1.20, above the 0.75–1.05 floors on long-term programs; Easy Street sets none. In the worked deal, 168 booked nights at $285, counted at 75%, produce 1.22. That passes a 1.20 lender with three nights to spare.

Yes, and a full year of bookings makes it easier. The new loan is sized on appraised value, up to 70% for an STR cash-out at Lima One, and on the bookings the lender credits. In the worked deal, $266,000 retires a $191,000 bridge loan and an assumed $8,800 of costs and returns about $66,200. Have the statements ready well before the bridge matures.

700 opens the most doors. Lima One's STR program and HomeBridge's 2023 STR guidelines both set 700, while Easy Street's rental program, which covers nightly stays, starts at 640. Long-term DSCR programs mostly begin between 620 and 680. Below 700, ask how your score changes the leverage before you sign a purchase contract.

Usually 20%–25%. Lima One's STR purchase cap is 75% of value; Easy Street's is 80%. If the ratio comes in thin after the trim, the fix is more equity: a smaller loan means a smaller payment against the same projected income. Furniture and setup come on top, out of your own cash.

Not always. Easy Street lists no STR history requirement. Experience does change the math, though. Easy Street credits the full AirDNA projection to a host already running a profitable STR in that market, or three or more nationwide, and HomeBridge's 2023 guidelines gave 75% leverage to hosts with a year of STR history and 70% to those without.

Only briefly. These are business-purpose loans on non-owner-occupied property, and the official commentary to the federal Truth in Lending rules says a rental can't count as non-owner-occupied if you expect more than 14 days of your own use over the next year. A place you plan to use as your own getaway needs a second-home lender instead.

Work back from the payment. Multiply PITIA by the lender's minimum ratio, divide by the share of bookings it counts, multiply by 12 and divide by your average nightly rate. At a $2,447 payment, $285 a night and 75% credited, a 1.00 floor needs about 138 nights (38%) and a 1.20 floor about 165 (45%).

The loan stays the same; the income may not. You still owe the full payment, and a house limited to 12-month leases earns long-term rent. At an assumed $2,100 market rent, the worked cabin would drop to a 0.86 ratio, $347 a month short of PITIA. Check long-term rent before you buy or refinance, and weigh a shorter prepayment penalty.

Usually. LendingOne's September 2026 guide put STR loans at 7%–10%, against 7%–9% for a typical investor. Leverage is lower too: Lima One stops STR cash-out at 70% of value. Across that 7%–10% range the worked cabin's ratio moves from 1.32 to 1.06, so the rate alone can decide whether a thin STR clears.

Often. EasyRent at Easy Street is written for long leases, mid-term stays and nightly bookings. Ask how the lender will treat income from furnished stays of a month or more: as leases, as booking history or as the appraiser's market rent. The answer can move the ratio a long way, so settle it before you order the appraisal.

Yes, at some lenders. Lima One's STR program offers interest-only and balloon options, and Easy Street runs the ratio on the interest-only payment. On the worked cabin's $266,000 at 8%, interest-only cuts the monthly principal and interest of $1,952 to $1,773 of interest and lifts the ratio from 1.22 to 1.32. No principal gets paid down meanwhile, and the payment rises when amortization begins.